Matt Kessler , Caitlin Cornell , J. Elliott Casal , Detong Xia
{"title":"Writing a successful applied linguistics conference abstract: The relationship between stylistic and linguistic features and raters’ evaluations","authors":"Matt Kessler , Caitlin Cornell , J. Elliott Casal , Detong Xia","doi":"10.1016/j.jeap.2024.101450","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The conference abstract (CA) is a promotional genre that is vital to academic success. However, composing a high-quality abstract can be challenging for both first (L1) and second language (L2) writers. Some researchers have performed contrastive analyses of accepted/rejected CAs, yet few studies have analyzed the extent to which different stylistic and linguistic features can predict reviewers' scores. The current study furthers this line of inquiry, while also responding to scholars' recent calls for more replication work in the fields of applied linguistics and second language acquisition. Using a corpus of 304 abstracts from an applied linguistics conference, the current study is an approximate replication that analyzes the extent to which 32 variables are predictive of CA raters’ evaluations. Data analyses consisted of multiple stages, including examining the relationships between CA scores and nine stylistic variables (e.g., rhetorical moves, study completeness) and 23 linguistic variables (e.g., grammatical errors, and lexical and syntactic complexity measures). Statistically significant variables were then entered into a regression model. Results suggest that seven variables accounted for approximately 25 percent of CA scores. The pedagogical implications of these findings are discussed for L1/L2 writers, along with future research directions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47717,"journal":{"name":"Journal of English for Academic Purposes","volume":"72 ","pages":"Article 101450"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of English for Academic Purposes","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1475158524001188","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The conference abstract (CA) is a promotional genre that is vital to academic success. However, composing a high-quality abstract can be challenging for both first (L1) and second language (L2) writers. Some researchers have performed contrastive analyses of accepted/rejected CAs, yet few studies have analyzed the extent to which different stylistic and linguistic features can predict reviewers' scores. The current study furthers this line of inquiry, while also responding to scholars' recent calls for more replication work in the fields of applied linguistics and second language acquisition. Using a corpus of 304 abstracts from an applied linguistics conference, the current study is an approximate replication that analyzes the extent to which 32 variables are predictive of CA raters’ evaluations. Data analyses consisted of multiple stages, including examining the relationships between CA scores and nine stylistic variables (e.g., rhetorical moves, study completeness) and 23 linguistic variables (e.g., grammatical errors, and lexical and syntactic complexity measures). Statistically significant variables were then entered into a regression model. Results suggest that seven variables accounted for approximately 25 percent of CA scores. The pedagogical implications of these findings are discussed for L1/L2 writers, along with future research directions.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of English for Academic Purposes provides a forum for the dissemination of information and views which enables practitioners of and researchers in EAP to keep current with developments in their field and to contribute to its continued updating. JEAP publishes articles, book reviews, conference reports, and academic exchanges in the linguistic, sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic description of English as it occurs in the contexts of academic study and scholarly exchange itself.